Inner receptacle for hearses



May 17 1927. 1,628, 93

w. LIVINGSTON ET AL INNER RECEPTACLE FOR HEARSES Filed Jan- 1926 oa ooaaoaw lNVENTOR fi i fi sz BY W ATTORNEYS Patented May 17, 1927.

UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFICE.

WALTER LIVINGSTON AND ALBERT EDWARD LIVINGSTON, O F HASTINGS, NEBRASKA.

INNER RECEPTACLE FOR HEARSES.

' Application filed January 2, 1926. Serial No. 78,944.

Our invention relates generally to hearses, more particularly to a structure for producing an inner compartmentwithin a hea'se, and it consists in the combinations, constructions and arrangement-s herein described and claimed.

Hearses commonly in use, particularly those of the limousine type of construction, have bodies which are neither dust-proof nor air-tight. These bodies of the hearse of course are adapted for the reception of caskets and since the caskets ordinarily are not sealed at the time they are transported in the hearses, it is obvious that the health of a community through which a hearse travels may be jeopardized when the body of a person who has died of a highly contagious disease is transported in an ordinary manner. In any event, objectionable odors may escape from the hearse body of ordinary construction when an unembalrned corpse is being transported therein in anordinary manner and water and dust may penetrate the body of the hearse and reach the casket and even the corpse within the casket. In the event that a hearse of ordinary construction should be overturned, should be flooded or should be ignited,"the corpse within a casket within the hearse is not protected.

An object of our invention is to obviate the objectionable features just mentioned as arising from the transportation of a corpse in a hearse of ordinary construction by providing an airtight, water-proof, fire-proof and perfectly sanitary receptacle within the body of the hearse for housing the casket.

A. further object of the invention is the provision of an inner casing or receptacle of the character described for housing the casket which will not interfere with the transfer of the casket from any given place to the interior of the hearse or vice versa.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of an inner receptacle or casing of the character described which in addition to housing the casket also may serve as a support for floral ofierings or other objects.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description. considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a perspective view of a hearse of the limousine type of construction,

equipped with an inner receptacle embodying the invention,

Figure 2 is a rear end view of the body of the hearse with the rear door of the hearse open to disclose the inner receptacle therewithin and Figure 3 is a relatively enlarged fragmentary section along the line 3'3 of Figure 2.

In Figure 1, we show a limousine hearse of a well known type of construction. The body of the hearse'is indicated generally at 1 and may be provided with front and rear side doors as indicated at 2 and 3, as is usual. Also, the upper portions of the side doors and of the sides of the body rearwardly of the doors 3 may be provided with windows, as also is usual.

The body 1 of the hearse also has a relatively large opening 4 in its rear end wall through which a casket may be moved endwise to and from position within the body 1. The opening t normally is closed by a hinged door 5.

The parts described so far are ordinary in construction and may vary considerably in details from those just referred to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention since the structure which has been described so far forms no part of the invention except insofar as it cooperates with the structure which will now be described.

In carrying out our invention, we provide an inner air-tight, water-proof, the proof perfectly sanitary compartment within the body of the hearse by placing or producing within the body of the hearse an in ner casing such as that generally indicated at 6 in the drawing. The inner casing 6 comprises an elongated hollow body 7 made of any suitable practically incombustible, heat resistant, impervious and durable material, such as a suitable metal. This inner casing is adapted to house a casket, not shown, of any usual size, and the body of the inner casing therefore is of suitable area in cross section to accommodate a casket of any usual size. The body of the inner casing preferably has a flat bottom on which the casket may rest, the body of the inner casing thus being substantially rectangular in cross sectional configuration although not truly rectangular since the corners thereof may be rounded and the top of the inner casing may be transversely arched or convexly curved.

The hollow body of the inner casing has an opening 8 in its rearward end which is of sufiicient size to permit a casket of any usual size to be projected therethrough to and from position in the inner casing. This opening 8 normally is covered by a door 9 which is included in the inner casing (i and is attached to the bodv of the inner case by a strong and durable hinge 10, whereby the door 9 can be swung horizontally from closed position as shown in Figure 2 and bv the full lines in Figure 3 toward open position as partially shown by the dotted lines in Figure 3. The door 9 preferably is made of the same material as'the body 7 of the inner casing and may be reinforced by integral strengthening ribs, such as indicated at 11.

The door 9 may be formed with a marginal rabbet 12 in its inner face constituting a seat for a. sealing strip 13 of asbestos or other suitable material so that an airtight connection between the door and the rear end wall of the body of the inner casing will be produced when the door is in closed position, as best seen in Figure 3, the sealing strip 13 then being clamped tightly between the bottom wall of the rabbet 12 and the outer face of the portion of the end wall of the body 7 which margins the opening 8. It of course will be understood that the door 9 may be releasably heldin closed position by any suitable known fastening or latching means, none being shown.

The rear end wall of the body of the case may have forwardly extending flanges at the sides of the opening 8, as indicated at 14, for the purpose of guiding toa desired position within the inner casing a casket which is being inserted into the case through the opening 8. Moreover, any suitable means, such as pads, not shown, may be provided within the inner case 6 for holding a casket securely within the latter.

The inner case 6 may be held against movement within the body 1 of the hearse'in any suitable known manner, as'by fittting snugly therewithin, or the inner case may be secured rigidly to the body of the hearse. The hearse and the inner case 6 may be produced as a unitor the inner case 6 may be disposed within the body of a hearse which has been formed separately. The essential vented from escaping; from the inner casing,

even though the casket in which a corpse is disposed is not completely air-tight.

The inner case 6 preferably does not extend above the level of the bottoms of the window frames in the body of the hearse and the top of this inner case may be utilized to support flowersor other suitable objects within the hearse.

While we have described the inner case as being adapted to accommodate caskets, it of course is to be understood that the inner case also is adapted to houseany other receptacle in which a body may be disposed.

Obviously, our invention is susceptible of embodiment in forms other than that illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and we therefore consider as our own all such modifications and adaptations thereof as fairly fall within the scope of the appended claims.

We claim 1. An inner receptacle for the body of a hearse, said inner receptacle comprising an elongated body closed at its inner end and having an opening in its rearward or outer end, said body being made of impervious, heat resistant material, a door hinged to said body for swinging movement to and from position to cover the opening in the rear end of the body, said door having a marginal rabbet in its inner face, and a sealing strip seated in said rabbet and adapted to Contact with the rear end of said body when said door is closed so as to produce an airtight seal between said door and said body of the inner receptacle.

2. An inner receptacle for the body of a hearse, said inner receptacle comprising an elongated hollow body closed at its inner end and having an opening in its rearward or outer end, a door hinged to the body for swinging movement to and from position to cover said opening, and inwardly extending flanges at the sides of said opening.

VVALTEB- LIVINGSTON. ALBERT EDIVARD LIVINGSTON. 

